The air volume of air springs is utilized, on the one hand, for the suspension of axles of motor vehicles. On the other hand, through the aeration and deaeration of air spring bellows by a valve device, such air springs permit ride height control, which offers advantages in particular for utility vehicles, if the vehicle body thereof must be set to the level of a ramp for example for loading purposes, or if a correction must be carried out in order to avoid an oblique position of the body owing to an eccentric load. Here, each wheel or else only each axle may be assigned an air bellows. Such a ride height control device is known for example from DE 10 2006 016 989 A1.
As spring elements of the air springs, use is made of corrugated bellows or rolling bellows, wherein an air spring which has a rolling bellows is discussed, for example, in DE 10 2006 016 140 A1. According to this document, the rolling bellows is composed of an elastomer material which deforms during aeration and deaeration or during a change in ride height of the vehicle body, and has in particular a roll fold which can roll on a radially outer circumferential wall of a rolling piston.
It is believed to be understood that wear of the corrugated bellows or rolling bellows constitutes a problem, and that in particular tears in the bellows can occur as a result of wear. The weak point of rolling bellows is most commonly situated at the roll fold, that is to say at that point of the rolling bellows at which the material undergoes its most intense change in direction and at which the strain of the material in the transverse and longitudinal directions changes during every stroke movement.
Since an exchange of the corrugated bellows or rolling bellows must be performed in a workshop, the vehicle is no longer available for use during the period of repair, which is a disadvantage in particular in the case of utility vehicles used for commercial purposes.
To counteract the problem of wear of air spring bellows, it is indicated in DE 10 2006 016 140 A1 that the air spring bellows has, on at least one of its radial lateral surfaces, a supporting layer which extends over the entire lateral surface and which is composed of a textile structure. It is the intention of this to protect the elastomer lateral surface from external influences.
In DE 10 2006 058 686 A1, to prevent temperature-induced wear of rolling bellows, it is indicated that the average temperature of the rolling bellows wall be reduced by cooling by virtue of cooling air being extracted from the compressed-air accumulator of the air spring system.
Aside from temperature-induced wear and wear induced by external influences, wear of the air spring bellows also arises owing to the mechanical loads which act during use.